I Promise
by Drindalis
Summary: There is nothing more painful than having to choose between two lives. There is nothing more horrible than having to make the decision of who lives and who dies. 3 different POVs on the cliff scene as I think it should have been done. Read & review!


DJG: Just a little oneshot I came up with for fun. I always thought they should have elaborated more on X's betrayal, instead of leaving it so…blah and emotionless. I feel like they made it seem somewhat robotic. So! This is my pitiful attempt at adding some emotion to the cliff scene from 3 varying POVs. Hope you all like it!"

Muse: "And according to the back of Drin's copy of Comet Run, the way we spell it in the story is the correct way to spell Dickie Radford. I still think it should be Ranford, but we can't all get what we want."

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><p><strong>X Racer<strong>

I didn't want to do it.

You have to understand that. He's my brother, it's not like I wanted to hurt him. But at the same time, he wasn't really giving me much of a choice.

Alpha was sick. If I left him with Speed and everyone else, he would die. Nothing could prevent that…except for the Committee. Luckily, they were working to change the world in a good way. The way I thought my father was, too. After everything he put me and Speed through, with the Cheszco Chamber, that accident with the track, even that race with Dickie Radford. Finding out that was all for nothing…that hurt. I mean, not only had he ditched me for sixteen years of my life, he had dumped Speed off at an orphanage for his _entire_ life.

Now that I knew there had been no reason for him to go into hiding at all…it pissed me off.

So, Speed got to grow up with no family, I got to grow up thinking my parents were both dead, and Spritle got to wonder if his brother was even still alive. When I had really started thinking about it, I realized Spritle could have had the worst of the whole situation.

How hard would it have been for him every day, worrying that his brother had been killed by people that Spritle still didn't know were imaginary? How hard would it have been to know that he had another son that no one knew about?

Had he tried to track my father down? Had he looked for Speed? Even worse, had he found Speed, and then done nothing to bring him back to his real family?

_What if he knew what Dad was doing the whole time?_

See, there were a lot of things I had to consider before joining the Committee. When they explained things to me, it really made sense. If only Speed would have listened, too…

Anyway.

Like I was saying, I didn't want to do it. But if Speed stopped me, Alpha Leader would die. Speed didn't know that, but it would happen nonetheless. I revealed to him my secret identity as Red Bolt hoping he would listen to me. But, no. He's stubborn, just like everyone else in our family.

"_X, this doesn't make any sense…I'm sorry, but I have to stop you!"_

I panicked when he said that. I didn't want anyone to die. Not Alpha, and not my brother. And if Speed stopped me from getting Alpha back to the Committee…that's what would happen. But when I pushed him off that cliff, I didn't even think about the consequences. I just did it.

The look on his face when I did…

"_I'm sorry you feel that way, baby bro."_

It only took a few pushes.

"_X! What are you doing?"_

Closer and closer to the edge until…

"_X, no!"_

He fell.

I couldn't watch. The whole way back to the Committee's Headquarters, I refused to look in the rear view mirror, even though there was no way I would be able to see anything anyway.

Hearing the way he screamed on the way down…those warning buzzers blaring…I turned off the communicator. Because I knew that if I heard a crash, I wouldn't be able to take it. At this point, it was up to Speed's driving skills to save him.

That was what scared me the most.

The horrible fear that Speed would freeze up and hit the bottom and die wouldn't go away. I knew that if Speed was thinking clearly, he could find a way out of that situation, no problem.

But in his eyes, I had just betrayed him utterly and then tried to kill him.

What was I thinking? How could I do something so…evil? What if I had just pulled over and talked to Speed instead of knocking him off of a _cliff? _He would have listened to me, at least. Maybe he would have understood.

What would everyone think if they found Speed dead at the bottom of a cliff and Dad's 'dream' smashed along with its driver? They would blame Red Bolt. Never would they assume that it was me. Why would they? I was supposed to stay in the background and let Speed have the spotlight. After all, I was named for the racer that was always second-best to the racer Speed was named for.

And that hurt, too.

I hoped with everything I had that he was okay. If I had truly just murdered my little brother, who had trusted and looked up to me…

Then I was no better than my father.

As soon as I got back to the Committee, they eagerly took Alpha away, to help him, I guess. Then the leader, the Shadowy Woman, ripped me a new one for revealing to Speed who I was.

"_Your orders were to keep your identity a secret. I didn't realize you would be so incompetent that you couldn't follow them! Not only that, but you could have destroyed the Mach 6! It is the _most vital_ part of our plans." she stated in her electronically edited voice._

"_Wait, so Speed's okay?" I asked hopefully._

_She gave me a look. _

"_Yes. He used a parachute to land safely. Lucky for you he did, too…if the Mach 6 was destroyed, all our plans would be, too…and punishment would be in order. That car is crucial for saving the world from people like your father! Just remember that your brother is still doing your father's bidding…for now."_

As ominous as that sounded, I was still glad my brother had escaped with his life. Hopefully soon I could explain things to him so he wouldn't hate me forever.

Hate.

It was scary to imagine Speed actually _hating_ me.

I mean, it was definitely justified. First I had ditched our racing team without even telling him or Annalise, then I had joined the Committee, then I forced him off a cliff! God, now that I think about it, I'm the worst brother ever…

Yeah, as if I can live with that hanging over my head.

Someday, little bro, I'm going to make it up to you for all of this. I'm sorry for being a crappy older brother, but one day you'll understand.

I promise.

**Speed Racer Jr.**

When I decided to go after Red Bolt, I didn't think things would go so wrong.

It was supposed to be…well, not easy, seeing as this Red Bolt had taken out Damian Russ…but not as hard as it was. When I caught up to the black car, I found out how good of a driver this guy was. He tried to talk me down, but I wasn't about to let this guy kidnap a friend.

And then he did something I never saw coming,

He took off his mask, and I saw he was my big brother. X. It was X! X was working for the Committee! X was kidnapping Alpha Leader! X had destroyed Damian's car!

It was all X.

I couldn't believe it.

I refused to believe it.

There was just no way he could do that to us…was there?

Was all of it just a joke? Everything? The Mach 6? Dad's dream? Maybe my initial suspicion was right and the whole 'you're Speed Racer's son' thing was all a lie. I didn't want to believe that…but I also didn't want to believe my brother had betrayed us. It was almost easier to imagine that X and I weren't related, so then it wouldn't hurt so bad.

But then he tried to tell me that Dad was a fraud.

He tried to say that Dad wasn't trying to save the world, he was trying to destroy it. What would make him think that was beyond me, but he seemed unable to be talked out of it.

"X, this doesn't make any sense…I'm sorry, but I have to stop you!"

I didn't even think to pull to his other side when the cliff came up as I would have in a regular race because I didn't think it was even possible for him to do what he did next.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, baby bro."

The coldness in his voice should have given it away. But I was stupid and naïve like always and trusted him, even though he was now technically my enemy.

The front end of his car nudged the Mach 6 purposefully to the side. At first I thought it was accidental, but then he did it again.

_He was trying to push me off the cliff._

"X! What are you doing?" I yelled, but he didn't answer. The tires of the right side of the Mach 6 began to spin, catching nothing but air. I froze, not believing he would actually do it. But as I saw him getting ready for the final push, I knew he was serious.

Deadly serious.

"X, no!"

The last push was harder than all the others, and I felt the car tip to the side violently. From there, gravity took us. The world whizzed by in a reddish brown blur. The only thing I could focus on was seeing X drive away like nothing had happened.

I heard the warning buzzers blaring around me and the flashing lights going off, but it was like they didn't even register. I could not believe what had just happened.

_This isn't happening. This isn't happening._

But it was.

The bottom was getting alarmingly close.

_I should probably do something about that so I don't crash and die. _

I hit the parachute button and almost threw up from the abrupt tug of the Mach 6 being slowed down so quickly. Okay, so that wasn't why I wanted to be sick.

The landing was less than gentle, but was still better than crashing and burning in a bunch of little sticky pieces. I just sat there for a moment in stunned silence, before slamming my head into the steering wheel and trying to forget about it. I noticed with much disdain that I had started to cry sometime during the fall, and I removed my helmet so I could angrily wipe the tears away. If X obviously didn't care about me, then why should I care about him? Still….X tried to push me off a _cliff…_

_Not X. Not X. It was Red Bolt. Not X._

I finally managed to calm down enough to drive back to the Academy, but by the time I got there, I didn't really feel anything. I was just…numb. When Dad, Damian, Conor, Lucy, and Annalise all eagerly waited outside the Mach 6, I just sat there for a minute. I had to tell them the truth obviously, but I did NOT want to break down like a baby in front of everyone. X in particular would have a field day making fun of-

I smacked my head into the steering wheel again. Despite not having a helmet on to dull the blow, the pain was a much needed distraction.

_Bad Speed. Quit thinking about it…_

"Speed, what happened? Did you get Alpha back?" I heard Lucy ask from outside the car. I said nothing, but opened the door, getting out slowly. I heard her make a small noise of surprise, and I felt a bruise forming on my forehead from beating my head into the steering wheel. Honestly, I bet there were some dents in that thing, I'd have to remember to ask Conor to take a look at it…

"Speed, talk to me. Are you okay?" Dad asked, but I brushed past him, heading for the garage. He followed me, flanked by everyone else.

Annalise came up on my other side. "Hey, was X helping you take that kidnapper down? We found out that he wasn't actually racing, it was some lame-o creep impersonating him, and we haven't been able to find X anywhere!"

I blinked, frowning a bit as X was mentioned. So that's how he did it. I guess the Committee was too sloppy in their choice of a replacement driver for X. No one could really copy how he drove, except for maybe me.

Damian spoke up, watching me with an odd look on his face. "Speed, something happened out there with Red Bolt, didn't it? Something major. C'mon, tell us. We need to know." he said firmly. I smirked, but the smile didn't fully reach my eyes.

"Yeah. You don't want to, though."

While everyone looked puzzled at my statement, I used that time to slip out through the garage's back door and head for my room. Once there, I just locked the door and sat on my bed, staring off into space.

_Now what are we going to do…?_

X, whatever the Committee said to get you to join them, I'll prove them wrong. I'll get you back…somehow.

I promise.

**Speed Racer Sr.**

There aren't many times in my life I've been genuinely scared.

But I knew the feeling well enough to recognize it when I saw my youngest son driving off after that mysterious black car.

The same one who had totaled and nearly killed my best friend, and one of the best drivers I knew.

That Red Bolt character was bad news. I figured that out when Damian and I had first been chased by him. He had kept up with us through every hairpin turn, every weave in and out of tree trunks, every move we made, he mirrored it flawlessly.

It was almost unnatural.

When Speed was gone, I paced back and forth, wishing I could chase him down and stop him from doing such a dangerous thing, but the Mach 5 wouldn't run for now thanks to his little trick.

Damian did his best to console me, but it was easy to see he was worried, too.

When Spritle finally came out with his truck and a tow, he joined in on the nervously act. It was only natural, after all. I was their father, but Spritle had done most of the raising, especially in X's case.

Speaking of X, I hadn't seen him anywhere. Once his impersonator had run off, we had nothing to go on to find him. Worry for both my sons' safety was driving me mad.

Finally, after about a half hour of waiting, I saw a dust cloud. It was moving slower than normal, but I didn't care about that. I was too worried about the condition Speed would be in. Had he been hurt? Was he even in the car? Could it be a trap sent by a Committee member? Could they have taken my son and left a bomb in the car or something similar?

I had to find out.

I approached the car cautiously, but my own worry for my son overrode safety measures when I saw him inside, staring into space for a moment. When he suddenly smacked his head into the steering wheel, I jumped a bit in surprise.

"Speed, what happened? Did you get Alpha back?" Lucy asked softly. My youngest son didn't answer, but got out of the car, a red mark beginning to form on his forehead, presumably from beating his face into the steering wheel. What exactly had happened with Red Bolt…?

"Speed, talk to me. Are you okay?" I asked, nervous about his behavior. Had Von Moniacle hypnotized him with that mind-control thing? No, that couldn't be it, his eyes weren't glowing red…

He ignored me and walked away, heading to the garage. I followed him quickly, everyone else right behind me. Annalise ran up to Speed's other side, obviously as curious as we all were.

"Hey, was X helping you take that kidnapper down? We found out that he wasn't actually racing, it was some lame-o creep impersonating him, and we haven't been able to find X anywhere!" she said, watching him for a reaction. Other than Speed frowning a bit when X was mentioned, she didn't get one.

"Speed, something happened out there with Red Bolt, didn't it? Something major. C'mon, tell us. We need to know." Damian stated. I nodded, hoping Speed might finally talk…

Instead, he just gave us a sad smile, his eyes filled with pain. "Yeah. You don't want to, though." he said softly. Puzzled, I looked to the others to see if anyone else understood what he meant, but all of their faces showed confusion as well. I turned back to him to ask what he meant, but by the time I did…

He was gone.

"Speed…" I spoke to empty air.

What exactly had happened with Red Bolt? I may never know. But no matter what it was, we'll get through it, together. As a family.

_I promise._

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><p>DJG: Well? What do you think? I was trying to stress the emotions of the characters through this, but I don't know if I succeeded...you should drop me a review and let me know how I did. Hint hint, wink wink.<p>

Muse: Oh, yeah, like that's not noticeable.


End file.
